Should Recycling Be Mandatory?

Recycling should be mandatory because we as a planet have a waste problem. We are the only ones that can fix it, and we should be bound by a law to do so.

Education, Logistics and Marketing Strategies Can Lower Recycling Costs. They have also cut costs by scaling back the frequency of curbside pickups and automating sorting and processing. (www.opala.org/solid_waste/archive/Mandatory_Recycling_)

Opposing Argument- By cutting costs there are people that are out of work. It may make sense to employ people rather than enforce a recycling law.

Rebuttal- By enforcing the law people will live in a cleaner environment. Each city can develop their own recycling program and that may create more jobs for the community.

Recycling is Mandatory in Some U.S. CitiesWhile recycling remains an option for most Americans, a few cities, such as Pittsburgh, San Diego and Seattle, have made recycling mandatory. Seattle passed its mandatory recycling law in 2006 as a way to counter declining recycling rates there. Recyclables are now prohibited from both residential and business garbage. Businesses must sort for recycling all paper, cardboard and yard waste. Households must recycle all basic recyclables, such as paper, cardboard, aluminum, glass and plastic. (www.westchestergov.com/environment_recycling.htm)

Opposing Argument- By the cities enforcing the recycling law is it possible that the businesses and residential customers are disguising their waste instead of recycling it? Thus causing employees to rummage through garbage to find culprits

Rebuttal- For a customer to disguise their waste would take greater effort than it would to recycle the items in the first place.

More than 56 percent of the paper consumed in the U.S. during 2007 was recovered for recycling — an all-time high. This impressive figure equals nearly 360 pounds of paper for each man, woman, and child in America. (Paper Industry Association...

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Abstract
Recycling has become popular as society increasingly wants to be greener. Recycling takes time and initiative that some do not want to do. Making recyclingmandatory will force everyone to do it. Some people are doubtful about the effects of recycling while others are delighted to see the benefits that recycling does to our environment. Deciding whether to make recyclingmandatory a law or to keep it a choice is debatable.
ShouldRecycling Be Mandatory
The definition of recycling according to dictionary.com is, “to treat or process (used or waste materials) so as to make suitable for reuse (dictionary.com)”. Why is it so important to reuse an item and how is it beneficial to our environment? Recycling can change the world because it saves energy, land space, money, creates new jobs and reduces air and water pollution. Recycling diverted over 83 million tons of material away from our landfills and incinerators and 35 percent of all solid waste in 2005 (1998). Recycling is not a flawless process and presents numerous negative effects on the environment as well as to consumers. It takes labor, capital, resources to manage, collect,...

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A Wasteful Society: Why RecyclingShould Be MandatoryRecycling is defined as “the process of making or manufacturing new products from a product that has originally served its purpose”. This simply means reusing old things and making them in to new ones. It is a process that has been done for centuries, longer than most would believe. Recycling goes back as far as historic times, 400BC and earlier than that. Though it was not uncommon for homes to recycle and reuse items it didn’t really become such a necessity until the beginning of World War II . This was because during the war supplies and money was in very short supply. Everything that was being produced or paid for went to help the war effort, so citizens back home had to learn to reuse and make do with the resources they had. Even the soldiers at war had to learn to recycle because resources were so scarce. Along with the patriotism of the United States, a sort of “…general patriotism in recycling…” was born all around the country . As expected as times have changed thoughts and influences of recycling have too. Recycling now is more of a choice than a necessity. Society is now more focused on creating new things rather than reusing the old. But despite this there has been a 100% increase in the past decade . But there is still work to be done.
Recycling is an activity that is worth...